Ray Sullivan, Rick Perry's Communication Director, had an interesting angle on Perry's new "transformation" (covered in other diaries HERE and HERE.
I can't embed the MSNBC video, but you can find a link HERE.
So, what did he say?
Rough transcript on the flip-side.
Q: "So he used to believe in an exception for rape and incest. Now he opposes abortion in all cases. Do you understand that given when he said that, that some people will say 'Wow, this "transformation" (air quotes and everything) comes at an opportune time, one week before the Iowa caucus."
A: "Chris, the Governer has always been pro-life. He will always be pro-life. He was deeply touched, as you saw, on that clip, by meeting a woman, a professional woman, who was ..."
Q: "But as you know, for Evangelical Christians there is no dividing line. Life is life, in their view, and you don't make exceptions for rape and incest, so 'pro-life' is a different definition than one that he subscribed to up until yesterday."
A: "I don't think that's the case, Chris. I think the Governor has been consistently pro-life and you saw him speaking from the heart yesterday about his encounter with a woman who was the product of one of these relationships, and grew up and became a successful professional woman, and that has to touch anybody regardless of your position on these issues. When you see someone like that and realize that had her mother made a different choice (yes, he said "choice") she wouldn't be standing there having that conversation. That's what the Governor was speaking to yesterday, speaking from the heart. Again, he's always been pro-life and always will be. He's not gone back and forth like some of these other candidates in the race.
The woman's mother was raped.
Apparently, Perry's camp thinks a rape is a "relationship."
I hardly know where to start.
3:44 PM PT: I wanted to add one mor thing. I'm used to Republicans being evil misogynist troglodytes, but why didn't the interviewer stop him in his tracks and say, "RELATIONSHIPS?! Did you just call rape and incest 'RELATIONSHIPS'?!"